Defence Matters: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-25
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

I may not take all my time. Hopefully, I can answer many of the questions that have been raised. I thank Senators not only for their contributions and insights, but for having an ongoing focus on issues of security and defence. It is important. I acknowledge references made in different guises to the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces.
The security landscape has changed significantly in this country since this report was published. Yesterday, we marked the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. I trust that all Members will join me in condemning the brutal and clearly illegal actions of Russia and expressing total solidarity with Ukraine. Against the backdrop of the global instability arising from the war in Ukraine and elsewhere, we have made some progress. A total of 54 of the 130 recommendations have been completed. There is more to do. There is no question about that. It is important that there be parliamentary scrutiny and oversight to keep the pressure on. I have confidence that the structures put in place will aid the successful delivery of the transformation of our Defence Forces which, as Senators have said, is badly needed. Capital funding has increased significantly and it will increase further.
As Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs and in the Department of Defence, I am acutely conscious of the work under way in preparation for the forthcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU. Questions have understandably been raised about the security aspects of the Presidency. From my meetings with ministerial counterparts across Europe and my observation of the scene, Ireland is not immune to threats by bad actors, nor are we alone in battling them. During the recent Danish Presidency, we saw the temporary closure of Copenhagen Airport due to incursions of its airspace. In Lithuania, Vilnius Airport was shut partially because of the incursion of balloons from Belarus. This is happening all the time in highly militarised countries, in some respects. Lithuania is certainly one such country.
In advance of our Presidency, the Government has prioritised the delivery of counter unmanned aerial systems capabilities for the Defence Forces. We secured a Supplementary Estimate to accelerate that. One of the key defence priorities of the Government is to ensure the operational capacity of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed in line with the decision to move to level of ambition 2, LOA 2, as defined in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.
We will look at the issue of radar, primary radar, the ground-based air-defence systems and of course the maritime radar. The work is ongoing. This is a major project for us. However, it is a foundational project for us to allow us to have the capacity to build on that. A contract has been awarded for sonar to monitor subsea activities. This is really important. References were made to the maritime strategy, which was launched today and has been long promised.
There are capability gaps. We have never made any bones about that. We absolutely acknowledge them. Crucially, we are acting to close those capability gaps. There is investment and we are continuing to invest and to put in place state-of-the-art systems for conducting the monitoring and surveillance activities in the air, on the surface and below the sea as well.
The triple lock has been a big feature of the debate today. In reforming the triple lock, the Government is delivering on a programme for Government commitment. That was agreed following the 2024 election. It was in our manifesto and the mandate was given by the electorate. The triple lock is quite simply no longer fit for purpose. It is not sustainable for us to continue to outsource the approval process for the overseas deployment of our own military personnel to members of the UN Security Council. Sinn Féin gave a very stout defence of Russia's apparent lack of vetoes over the past couple of years but we have not seen any new peace missions agreed by the UN Security Council either. We have seen the effective ending of UNIFIL in Lebanon by one member of the UN Security Council. That is a fact. That is the contribution that Ireland is most famous for. It was ended by one country, one member of the UN Security Council.
I listened to Senator Higgins when she gave the example of Operation Sophia, which is now called Operation Irini, and I did not disagree with what she said. However, we were prevented from joining that operation for one year because it started as an EU mission and did not have a UN Security Council mandate. We actually could not join that operation until it got a UN Security Council mandate, about a year later. While the Senator is correct when she talks about the humanitarian functions not being prioritised, that mission is complying with an EU decision and a UN Security Council mandate to prevent weapons coming in from Libya. However, it carries out tremendous humanitarian work on the Mediterranean to this day. I am very proud of the Irish men and women who take part in Operation Irini, but they were not able to take part until that mission got a UN Security Council mandate even though it was operational as an EU mission at the time. Indeed, when I was there last year certainly, there was considerable doubt as to whether the mission would be continued. It has been continued so far, not always for one year. The day the UN Security Council mandate is lost to that mission is the day we leave it automatically under current legislation. However, it would still continue in operation as an EU mission. The work that Senator Higgins wants more of, which is happening to some extent notwithstanding it is not within the direct terms of reference, is part of a mission that we would just have to leave, and say goodbye to, because of this legislation.
I do not think it is correct to talk about the role of the General Assembly in uniting for peace without also looking at the Security Council, which is a binding institution. It binds countries under international law; the General Assembly does not. In any event, if you were to look for some resolution of the General Assembly, as has been proposed by Sinn Féin, you would have to canvass all the members of the General Assembly, including Israel and other countries that have been criticised in the House today. We need to remove this. We are unique among neutral countries in having this requirement. They want their governments and their parliaments to have these decisions. Generally speaking, people go with UN missions or EU missions or OSCE missions. It is very common for neutral countries in Europe to take part in those various missions with or without a formal resolution of the UN Security Council. We have to get real about this. We have to protect our own sovereignty. We have to make our own decisions.
I welcome this debate. I look forward to further discussions. We want to maintain our proud tradition of peacekeeping but we want to secure the country as well. We have an obligation - the Government and the Dáil are acutely conscious of this - to protect our citizens and protect our territory. That is the fundamental role. Yes, we are bound by Article 29 of the Constitution, which talks about "the ideal of peace". It is literally written into the law of this land that we are bound by peace and the objective of "friendly co-operation amongst nations". That is what we do. However, we can do that by having permission from our Dáil and permission from our Government to send troops to keep the peace. At the same time, we can work night and day to build up our Defence Forces and build up our capabilities so that we can protect the State and protect our people from the various threats we face. I think people are becoming more and more aware of those threats.
Recruitment is improving. We have had significant increases in the numbers of people applying. We have also had significant increases in the retention rate, which is very important. Improvements were made to pay following the implementation of a number of pay-related recommendations from the Commission on the Defence Forces. Recruit pay, for example, on completion of training, which takes about 24 weeks, starts at €42,500 in year 1. Following this month's public sector pay increases, the starting salary for a lieutenant, which is the entry rank for a graduate cadet on commissioning, is €51,748. For a second lieutenant, which is the entry rank for a school leaver cadet on commissioning, it is €46,359 while that person is in full-time education.
Senator Gallagher raised the issue of cadet pay. I am aware that a business case for increasing cadet pay was received by the Department and the matter was raised with the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. To be clear, there are no officials telling people what to do. This is a political decision, a Government decision. However, the position of the Department is that the request must be addressed within the parameters of public pay policy with local bargaining available as an option to address sector-specific claims. When the Minister met with the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, recently, it raised the issue with her and the Minister agreed to give further consideration to that. RACO will continue to engage with the Department and the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.
Senator Gallagher asked about our counter-unmanned-drone system, or C-UAS, capabilities. Following the Dáil approval of the Supplementary Estimate that I brought to the committee, which provided for the accelerated procurement of C-UAS capabilities, contractual arrangements have been put in place to enable delivery of these capabilities during the first half of this year. In line with these arrangements, training of military personnel is already under way and the further roll-out of the required capabilities will continue to be accelerated this year.
There is a lot happening in this space. I suggest that a lot has to happen. I will address one further point which was raised by Senator Higgins. This figure of €800 billion, which unfortunately is in the Oireachtas finance committee report, is not an accurate figure. The €800 billion in relation to spending on defence includes €650 billion of an easement of EU rules on borrowing by member states. That is borrowing by member states in breach, you might say, of the traditional borrowing rules. The EU has allowed them to do this for defence. The other €150 billion is a loan, effectively, to member states that they have to pay back. The €800 billion figure is not a reflection of anything that the EU is spending. The EU is not a military alliance. The member states are asking the EU to help them to defend themselves and to inform their own defence policies.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25